Daily Arts keeps readers reading, feeling the joy and pain of arts

Do they go solely because of the music? Do they go only to see the performer up close and in the flesh? Or do they simply go just for the 'joi de vivre' concert experience?

In the case of Morrissey, fans flock to the concerts because they have no choice. They travel from great distances because they know that Morrissey has touched them. They wait around his hotel because they admire his ability to champion the small shy body inside us all. They swarm around his tour bus before sound check because they understand that Morrissey is one of the most important rock icons of this generation. They go to see Stephen Patrick Morrissey simply because it is something they have to do.

- From "Wizard of Moz: Morrissey hypnotizes Hill with eerie,

evocative set," by Brian Cohen, Sept. 26, 1997

* Short of ballroom dance lessons in the Michigan Union or Ypsilanti's square dance club, it's been a while since there's been any new dance movement in and around Ann Arbor.

Until tonight.

The doors of the Liquid Lounge are set to open at 10 p.m., inaugurating the arrival of club and techno music on the Ann Arbor night scene.

- From "Liquid Lounge makes splashy jump into dry A2 club scene," by Stephanie Jo Klein, Oct. 29, 1997

* The witching hour.

The time of night when weird things happen. When a full moon can transform young, unsuspecting college students into wild, raving party animals.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, at the stroke of midnight, amidst the light snow that was falling, the most unlikely of outcomes came true. Adam Sandler finally showed his face in Ann Arbor. The comedian/musician from Saturday Night Live and such movies as "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" had cancelled his previous engagement last month due to a bout of laryngitis. But on the final stop of his tour promoting his new album, "What's Your Name?," Sandler made it on stage ... for one hour. Yes, Sandler played for all of an hour in front of 4,000 screaming fans in Hill Auditorium, who shelled out upwards of $15 to listen to eight songs. Do the math.

- From "Sandler disappoints with sloppy show" by Gabriel Smith, Nov. 24, 1997

* Mark Waters, director of what may be the first cinematic incest comedy, "The House of Yes," is weird. Or at least that's what his mom thinks.

"I showed this movie to my mother and my aunts, who are 60 years old and live in Indiana, and I was very amused at how much they liked it. As my mom put it, 'Well, you know, there's not too much cussing in it or anything. Sure, it's weird, but you're weird - and it's funny.' That's my mom, though, who's a little biased."

- From "Director Waters puts 'House' on market" by Bryan Lark, Dec. 10, 1997

* "Dawson's Creek" is like a postcard. The city in the photograph seems beautiful, interesting and clean. The reality is most often dirtier, more boring and uglier, but those aren't the qualities you would look for in a post card.

The WB network's newest, and quite honestly, best show presents a picture-perfect version of reality. It's not fake so much as it has been doctored for aesthetic effect.

- From "Sex, dialogue drive WB's

brilliantly hormonal 'Dawson'," by Michael Galloway, Jan. 27, 1998

* I was in the 5th grade when my friend Zack let me borrow an Andrew Dice Clay tape and at the time, I laughed my ass off. Looking back, I think it was for two reasons that I was in tears: He swore (a lot) and he talked about female body parts.

I still love a good, crass joke, but when I went down to the State Theatre in Detroit to see Dice perform on Feb. 27, I realized I am no longer a 12-year-old boy and Dice is clearly past his prime, or should I say, climax.

- From "Old, fat Dice isn't worth the price," by Reilly Brennan,

March 9, 1998

* Psychotherapist and author Amy Bloom has reinvented love. Expanding on a previously published short story, Bloom's debut novel, "Love Invents Us," explores often-overlooked aspects of love found in everyday life.

The seemingly effortless expansion on Bloom's recurrent themes found in "Love Invents Us" were read by the author herself in front of a 50-member audience at Shaman Drum Bookshop on Monday.

The shift from short story to novel has not been without some difficulties for Bloom. "Novels are very different," Bloom said at the reading. "It's a big playground, and there are a lot more rides. It has a different shape and has to stay connected in different ways."

Despite her concerns about the transition, Bloom has woven the most delightful elements of her popular short stories - believable human characters, idiosyncratic plots, sharp wit - into "Love Invents Us" seamlessly.

- From "Bloom blossoms in latest novel," by Amy D. Hayes, Jan. 21, 1998

* Claude Monet, largely known to college students through calendars and dorm-room posters, is considered the founder of Impressionism and still looms large in the art world today. Last week, his work became the focus of one the biggest exhibitions ever at the University's Museum of Art: "Monet at Vétheuil: The Turning Point" finally hit Ann Arbor after years of planning and preparation. The show, the Museum's first-ever ticketed exhibition, is unprecedented in the Museum's history and expected to draw fans of the artist from around the country.

The Monet show is small, featuring only 12 works. But the show is of great importance as it brings these pieces together for the first time since they left the artist's studio. "Monet at Vétheuil" not only highlights a turning point in the artist's career but also features some works that have never before left their respective galleries.

- From "Monet behind the scenes; After two years of planning, research, Monet works reunited at Art Museum," by Anitha Chalam and Anna Kovalszki, Jan. 29, 1998

* Sometimes I forget why mid-season replacement shows are, well,

mid-season replacement shows. A big thank you and a dead trout for NBC are in order for refreshing my memory with their abysmally clichéd sitcom "For Your Love."

Just imagine the pitch to the NBC programming heads now. "Uh, Mr. Littlefield, how about a sitcom with a racially heterogenous cast that exploits every mildly amusing marriage stereotype until the joke has long since ceased to be funny?" Toss in Holly (wife of former Detroit Lion Rodney) Peete, nee Robinson and Michelle Pfeiffer's underachieving younger sister DeDee and you've got a marriage destined for divorce court.

- From "NBC's new 'Love' is destined for divorce," by Erin Podolsky, March 24, 1998

* Simply put, "L.A. Confidential" has the best acting, writing and directing of the year, hands down, and it would be criminal if the Academy recognized another film as Best Picture.

- From "Picture this! Five nominees face off," by Matthew Barrett, March 23, 1998 * CRISP Lady: Please enter a four-digit personal security number of your choice.

Joshua Pederson: Hold on, CRISP Lady. I totally trust you. There's no need for personal security numbers between friends. Especially friends as close as we are. Wow, CRISP Lady, you sound really sexy today. Remember, we're talking about this girl I like.

CL: For registration transactions, press one now.

JP: Registration transactions? What's that supposed to mean? Is that some kind of joke? I don't think you understand, CRISP Lady ...

CL: For fall term, press one now.

JP: Fall term! Fall term? I mean, two years together and all you can talk about is fall term? Live in the now, CRISP Lady! We're talking about us here! I don't think I even know you any more ...

CL: To add a class, press one. To drop a class, press two. To swap classes ...

JP: Stop it, CRISP Lady! Don't you realize what you're doing to me? After all we've shared, all we've been through! ..."To swap classes."

Oh, I think I understand now. There's someone else, isn't there. And all these years I thought I was the only one. I was just your little toy, wasn't I? It was all just a game to you ...

CL: I have not received your response.

JP: Response, shmesponse! What about my feelings? ... I'll press nine! Don't think I won't do it! I'll press nine and exit the system, you little ...

CL: I have not received your response.

JP: You're making me do this, CRISP Lady! When you're whining in your little room thinking to yourself, "He was so good to me. He pressed my buttons just right," don't you come crying back to me. One of these days, I'm gone. I mean, I won't always be here for you ...

- From "CRISP personality proves stable in a student's time of woe," by Joshua Pederson, April 9, 1998.

* So in the spirit of nostalgia for the show that has created more "isms" than anything ...

Remember the one with the Soup Nazi? If someone did not order soup in the way he liked, he yelled "No soup for you," and threw the person out.

Remember the contest between Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer over who could go without (ahem) pleasuring themselves the longest?

Remember when Jerry dated a masseuse but got upset because she wouldn't give him a massage? He compared it to going to Idaho and not having a potato.

Remember the show about "shrinkage?" George and Jerry asked Elaine if she knew about the effect of cold water on men's bodies. "It shrinks?" she asked, and Jerry replied, "Like a frightened turtle."

The list could go on for pages. But there's time for everything to end. To the cast and crew of "Seinfeld": thanks for nothing! And for showing us how funny it could be.

- From "Bidding farewell to a 'Sein' of the times," by Michael Galloway, Jan. 14, 1998.

* One doesn't necessarily have to sell his soul to the dark prince in order to listen to Mephiskapheles' music.

"All of the Satan stuff is to draw you in and get you curious. We used to do some weird Satan stuff on stage, now you just come to the show and get this musical experience. It's up to you to decide what it means to you," said trombone player Greg Robinson. "We don't kill small animals and stuff like that. It's more like a concept."

This idea of devilish undertones has existed since the band's inception in 1990. "The whole thing started off as a Satan band, but not a death metal band. They don't really play dance music," Robinson said.

- From "Mephiskapheles takes ska to new levels," by Curtis Zimmermann, March 25, 1998.

* Of all the great musical memories that are Marvin Gaye's legacy, "Sexual Healing" is all I need to get by, for obvious reasons - who doesn't like having their emotional stability leaving them from time to time.

Imagine a world where everyone appreciated the genius of Marvin Gaye by gyrating in every family room, living room, drawing room, bathroom and bedroom to Marvin's moaning of "Get up, get up, get up, let's make love tonight." Wouldn't that sort of natural, unbridled movement be liberating to our stuffy society?

OK, then, imagine a 5-year-old blond boy grinding and groaning those very same lyrics. Ain't that peculiar - not to mention disgusting and even a little bit illegal. It's not that perverse, remember, I was only a child - sweet, innocent, prone to getting that feeling.

- From "When I Get That Feeling ..." by Bryan Lark, March 26, 1998.

04-16-98